


put on your war paint

by impulserun



Series: we'll be fine [12]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 13:49:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10219628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impulserun/pseuds/impulserun
Summary: Steve leaves that morning with his usual military-reg haircut and Captain America uniform. He steps out of Pym’s timestream training chamber four hours later with his hair long and ruffled, kept out of his face in a low ponytail, and dressed like a gladiator.“Is it my birthday?” Bucky asks hoarsely.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ~~i swear to god it was still january the last time i checked. uni is a pain in the butt.~~

Steve leaves that morning with his usual military-reg haircut and Captain America uniform. He steps out of Pym’s timestream training chamber four hours later with his hair long and ruffled, kept out of his face in a low ponytail, and dressed like a gladiator.

Picture this; Steve’s ragtag group of non-powered students and assorted SHIELD agents, all gathered in the quad in front of headquarters for their regular sparring session, Bucky and Kamala at their head, all of them gaping at Steve’s bare thighs.

It’s not the strangest thing that’s happened on campus – the zealots, Robot Steve, and the time he was a werewolf are top contenders for _that_ title – but still.

“Is it my birthday?” Bucky asks hoarsely.

Steve blinks. The sun glints golden off his hair. Bucky offers a silent _thank you_ to every deity in existence.

“Is it?” he asks, stricken. “It felt like years in there – what day is it? I didn’t miss your birthday, did I?”

“It is now,” Bucky decides. “C’mere Steve.”

“Fucking Christ, Barnes, there are _minors_ present,” someone yelps – he thinks it might be Clint, jokingly slapping his hands over Kate’s eyes – but Bucky is too preoccupied to do much more than flip them the bird.

“What’d I tell you?” says Tony, inordinately smug. “Gladiators.”

*

(It actually _is_ his birthday, they realise, to Steve’s great dismay. Fin Fang Foom’s awakening and subsequent attack on campus had driven all frivolous thoughts from their minds.

But that’s fine. There are more important things, Bucky decides. He pulls his boyfriend in for another kiss.)

*

“I mean it though,” Steve says, hours later, curled up in the relative quiet of their dorm room. “I made plans and everything – I was gonna take the day off, take you back to Brooklyn for a day trip –”

“It’s fine, Steve,” Bucky murmurs, gently carding his fingers through Steve’s long hair. “We can do that another time.”

“It’s your birthday!” he protests. “It’s your birthday, and I spent it training in Pym’s stupid timestream chamber.”

“It ain’t your fault,” he says, for what must be the umpteenth time. “’Sides, we spent _your_ birthday fighting Osborn’s lackeys.”

“And we still made time for celebrating,” Steve sighs.

“Hey, now,” he jokes, “that was for _America’s_ birthday. Not yours.”

Steve pouts and rolls over to hide his face in his pillow. It’s ridiculously adorable.

“Calm down, Steve,” he laughs, as he gathers his sulky boyfriend into his arms. “It’ll still be my birthday after a nap.”

**Author's Note:**

> happy (belated??? it's still bucky's birthday in some part of the world b/c timezones idc) birthday buck


End file.
